The first of my three strategies is this: if you don’t feel calm, fake it. That’s right. If you cannot be genuinely cool, calm and confident pretend you are. I’m going to show you how to fake it, to act as if you’re calm and confident.
To see how a change in your thinking will affect your bodily reactions and symptoms of fear, think about your impending public presentation. Do you immediately feel that all-too-familiar stab of fear? We sometimes call them butterflies in the tummy. Tuning in to those feelings lets you experience with me how those feelings are only that: feelings. And you can also see clearly that it’s YOUR THOUGHTS AND MEMORIES which have produced the feelings - the butterflies, the dry mouth, the racing pulse, the quivery voice. Your memories of previous fear-filled events, have triggered symptoms of fear.
For our first way to greater confidence, please take these steps:
Deliberately open your mouth just a little bit, and consciously let your tongue go very limp.
Look at yourself in the mirror. It’s physically impossible for you to be tense and anxious while you’re opening your mouth just a little bit, and while you’re keeping your tongue limp and relaxed.
Now that I’ve got you relaxed, a little…talk to yourself in the mirror. It’s alright. There’s only you and me here and I won’t tell anyone. Keeping your tongue very limp and your mouth, chin and jaw areas very loose, say a few words. For instance, try saying “I’m feeling really terrified about that talk next Tuesday.”
Now, please go and get your speaking notes, the ones you’ve prepared for the talk. If you haven’t finished your preparation, postpone this exercise until you have an outline of your talk distilled to speaking notes which will be your special prompts or cues on the big day.
With those brief notes, stand in front of the mirror again. Keep your mouth nice and relaxed. Let’s forget about keeping your tongue too limp, just concentrate on looking at yourself in the mirror knowing that your face from the nose down, is relaxed.
With that very relaxed mouth, start giving your talk. Smile at the little joke you’ll tell your audience next week. Look suitably worried when you give that statistic about the spread of illiteracy or poverty. That’s the first strategy.
Maybe you want to say to me: “But Jeannette, I’ve only been pretending that I was feeling calm and confident about that next presentation. I’ve only been acting as if I was truly calm and confident for the sake of this exercise”. My response?
“Think about this, my sweetness. During the five minutes or so that you were doing that exercise, you WERE calm and relaxed. And you can feel that very same way in front of an audience”.
In my counselling and coaching, and in my e-kit Calming Words, I constantly remind people to be kind to themselves. To take little steps toward your confident self. Next step is to do that calm relaxed rehearsal again with an audience of a few family and friends. Tell them you’re doing an experiment.
If you don’t have time to get a little friendly audience together, remember I’m up there with you at your next presentation. Feel my calming presence next to you.
Just before you start your presentation, do this: open your mouth a little and remember that image of you standing relaxed in front of the mirrror. The mind is a marvellous thing. Just by triggering that memory of that relaxed state, will re-produce that feeling. Finish this sentence: if my memories of fear can produce feelings of fear, my memories of speaking in a confident and relaxed way can produce feelings of being _________and _______.
SECOND STRATEGY: LET’S GET PHYSICAL AND REALLY TENSE Some people respond better to physical ways to feel more relaxed. This is a tactic used by actors before going onstage. Stand at arm’s length away from a wall. Place both your palms flat on the wall at about shoulder height in front of you. Push against the wall with your palms - as if you were trying to push the wall down.
Notice that your abdominal area is totally engaged in that effort. It is those muscles in your solar plexus that are vital to keeping you centred and calm. While engaged in that physical effort your body cannot also produce the noradrenaline which is the precursor to those panicky feelings of fear.
Even in this short article, I do need you to understand that there is a physical relationship between:
The way you breathe,
How you stand and hold your abdominal muscles and
How you speak.
Doing exercises to strengthen your abdominal muscles and to become more aware of them, will be of great assistance to you in controlling nervousness.
Contracting those muscles reduces or stops the production of norepinephrine or noradrenaline - the panic hormone. In fact, one of your body’s major nerve-control centres lies behind what’s called The Vital Triangle, so controlling that area is good also for control of anger and pain.
THIRD STRATEGY - VISUALISE SUCCESS Another strategy to assuage your own nervousness is to make sure that you’re totally familiar with the venue at which you’ll speak. When you’re practising or rehearsing your presentation in front of the mirror, when you’re smiling and basking in the positive feelings from the audience, imagine that you’re there in that auditorium or theatre and on that stage. See the colour of the curtains. Or even their color! Visualise the placement of the chairs for your audience. Put as much detail as you can into your visualisation. Feel it.
That marvellous feeling of actually being there and feeling calm and confident.
My three strategies or public speaking tips were… just the tip of the iceberg. To your continued happiness and success.
Based in Melbourne, Australia Dr Jeannette Kavanagh is a solution-oriented counsellor helping people overcome anxiety and panic attacks, particularly when speaking or performing in public. Sign up for her FREE ezine Public Speaking Success
With practice, you’ll feel much more positively about your audience and in turn, more confident about presenting to them. With each public presentation, you’ll begin to know and to accept more that your audience is simply made up of individual human beings much like you. Each person in the audience expects your best and hopes that you deliver your best.
And their expectations are like a silent beam of positive energy beaming from the centre of their being into you.
Genuine rapport is based on empathy. Confident public presentations are made by people who respect their audience and who use their entire repertoire of communication skills to really connect with their audience.
TO ESTABLISH RAPPORT INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION
1. Vocal tone:
That’s where the dreaded word monotonous comes in. If you detect that Mother Nature made your voice mono-toned, please consider hiring a speech coach.
2. Facial expressions:
Rehearse your facial expressions using a mirror, or better still, a video. Check that your facial expressions are appropriate and varied. Using the mirror or a video, please check that you have minimised or eliminated any nervous facial gestures you make. Some people emphasise the end of each sentence by opening their eyes just a bit wider, or they draw their mouth back in a grimace. You can’t sort out problems like that, if you don’t even know you have them.
3. Hand gestures:
I’m notorious for speaking with my hands, so I’ve had to tame them a bit. Make sure you don’t look too wooden or too distracting.
4. Pacing:
In my e-program Public Speaking Success e-Program, I outline the proper pace for optimum comprehension by your audience. Worldwide, there is an accepted proper pace for optimum comprehension by your audience. In America, when speaking English, a pace of about 155 words per minute is fine. The pace of American English tends to vary from State to State. If you have a strong accent, it’s always good to slow down just a trifle. In Australia where we tend to mumble, the pace per minute shouldn’t be more than 150 words. You can record yourself reading out three minutes of your presentation at your normal pace. If in three minutes you were able to cover more than 480 words, you’re speaking way too quickly. If in three minutes, you only covered 420, the snoring in your audience will let you know that you’re speaking way too sloooooow.
5. Pitch:
Please don’t commit the terrible crime of ending your sentences by going up in pitch - unless you are in fact, asking a question. It’s a trend I’ve noticed among young Australians and there should be a law against it, it’s so irritating. Rule of public speaking, if you really want to emphasise a point, a piece of information, lower your pitch for the last couple of words in your sentence. Above all, make sure you establish plenty of eye contact.
SECONDLY, SPLENDID PRESENTERS GENERATE REAL TWO-WAY DISCUSSIONS.
The next ingredient in absolutely memorable presentations is to be able to generate real interaction with the audience. Of course, if you’re just proposing a quick Toast at work to welcome someone new, or to farewell a colleague, interaction isn’t appropriate. In most presentations, particularly keynote addresses, it is a winner.
To fulfil that part of truly splendid presenting, you’ll need to practise your public speaking skills in order to develop the confidence needed to carry this off.
HOW TO ESTABLISH INTERACTION WITH THE AUDIENCE
One of the best ways to impress your audience is to take them out of their comfort zone by inviting them to be speakers as well as just passive listeners.
If your presentation has an element of true interaction between you and your audience, you will make a lasting impression - on the people with whom you directly communicate, and also with the people listening to the way in which you handle questions.
One thing that I have learned from giving lectures, keynote addresses and everything in between is this: People in audiences are often too intimidated to ask questions.
So, to make my presentations truly interactive, I ask the audience questions which initially just require a show of hands. After a few general questions I then lead gently into a series of questions to which I require verbal answers. Pretty soon, I know that we’ve relaxed our way into a discussion. We (the audience and I ) have come to a point where I can ask: “does anyone here have a question they’d like to ask, or a point of view they’d like to share with us?”
It should come as no surprise to you to know that many people feel shy or intimidated about asking questions in public. Except the audience in those talk shows like Oprah. Generally, it’s almost as difficult to frame a relevant and interesting question in a succinct way as it is to frame the entire presentation. If you do want genuine interaction between you and your audience, begin that part of your presentation by asking them some general, non-threatening questions. And please make your questions thought-provoking, stimulating, and open-ended.
A FINAL NOTE ABOUT YOU AND YOUR PROGRESS TOWARDS GREATNESS
A tangent: in my e-program Calming Words which allows you to overcome more general anxiety and attacks of panic, I advise that you must be kind to yourself. Please don’t expect to be great before you’re even mediocre.
I know that sounds harsh, because so many people these days are constantly telling you that you’re great. At this stage in your acquisition of public presentation skills, I want to tell you the truth. You’re not great. Yet. You will be as great as you can be, but you may never be as great a public presenter as JFK.
There are many, many presenters who are so much better than me. That’s fine. For some, it’s their true vocation, their calling in life. I earn a great living making presentations, so I know that I am a thousand times better now than I was twenty years ago. However, if I went around comparing myself with others, I might never open my mouth again.
UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS ARE A HUGE STUMBLING BLOCK TO SUCCESS. It will take you time to be as great as you can become. Even then, you may not be as compelling, entertaining and informative as I am. Or vice versa. So, along the way to your true potential, judge yourself kindly. If in the early stages, you make a couple of mistakes or you’re just not confident enough to orchestrate the flow between you and the audience…. Fine. You still need to practise your skills, to finetune your approach, to feel comfortable with your style.
How long will it take? It might take twenty talks for some people, two presentations for others and eighty-three for someone else. Again, that’s fine. You’ll get there. When you’re really confident, you’ll increase the extent to which you interact with your audience - but always to an appropriate level. Audiences love it. As always, to your continued happiness and success.
Based in Melbourne, Australia Dr Jeannette Kavanagh is a solution-oriented counsellor helping people overcome anxiety and panic attacks, particularly when speaking or performing in public. Sign up for her FREE ezine Public Speaking Success
Your first tip is that aural (speaking and hearing) communication is very different from visual communication. So it’s vital that your visuals (charts, photos and so on) complement what your audience is hearing. To quote Dorothy Sarnoff, one of my favourite writers on the subject of public presentations:
“Speechmaking confidence comes from knowing that you have something worth saying and that you can say it in a way that’s worth listening to”. (Sarnoff 1981: 42)
A picture is only worth a thousand words, if your visuals illuminate and extend the meaning of your spoken words. I know you’d never confuse your listeners by presenting difficult-to-follow visuals which I’ve had to endure.
Spend your preparation time to distil some complex information into a diagram that’s clear and easy to understand, with lots of white space around it, not a diagram that looks like a circuit for a computer - boxes all over the place, arrows going both ways, and a confusing colour scheme. Make three separate images, rather than try to squeeze an assortment of images onto one diagram.
My approach to public presentations is inspired by something Albert Einstein is alleged to have said:
“If you really understand something, you can make it understandable to a ten year old.”
So, be like Einstein: keep it simple. Your words and your visuals. If your visual aids don’t stand alone, or make sense by themselves, dump them.
If you don’t discard them, please at least have a very good second look at them. If your visual material is going to require lots and lots of verbal explanation, then they’re too complex for a public presentation. Include them in your conference paper, or hand-out materials by all means.
Notice, my sweet reader, that I’m referring to IMAGES your audience is seeing….NOT TEXT they’re reading on your slides. That leads me to an even bigger crime, I wish could carry a jail term of about 210 years.
Using PowerPoint!
GENERAL TIP # 2: PLEASE DON’T USE POWERPOINT
Except if you’re creating visual imagery.
Well, if you absolutely must, I suppose you must. I try to restrain myself about my hatred of PowerPoint, but there are so many reasons not to use it. PowerPoint is a way of dumbing down communication to a few dot points which usually have no meaning outside the PowerPoint presentation. If a text slide needs a speaker to explain what the words mean, then either the speaker or the slide is redundant.
Yes, alright. I’ll concede that PowerPoint can be useful for hand-out notes. Those notes will remind listeners about what they heard. Having them up on a projector while you’re speaking is just a total waste of time, and a distraction.
PowerPoint slides are ugly and clunky and they’ve ruined public presentations. They’re also easy to use so I admit I’m fighting a losing battle.
GENERAL TIP # 3: WHEN IT’S APPROPRIATE, LEAVE HANDOUTS FOR YOUR AUDIENCE.
Your hand-out material might be a list of books/articles they can read for more information, the text of your paper, marketing brochure about your other services. Handouts add to your credibility and allow people to recall the key points in your speech. When your audience goes home with handouts, they can also feel as if you have given them something ‘for free’
GENERAL TIP # 4: READ UP ON EXCELLENT PUBLIC SPEAKING AND PRESENTING.
I mention a couple of books I think are great in my bio. Your local library has many of them, and one cannot have too much information on such a foundational skills as speaking well.
GENERAL TIP # 5: JOIN TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL OR A SIMILAR GROUP.
To become a great public speaker, that’s it. You have to actually find as many opportunities as you can to practise what you’re reading about. That’s why joining Toastmasters or a similar group is great. Those groups offer a safe, supportive but challenging environment in which to do that. Let me repeat: the best way to improve your skills in anything is to practise - just do it.
GENERAL TIP # 6: INVEST IN A COURSE IN PUBLIC PRESENTATION SKILLS.
There are many such courses available, ranging from half-day seminars to courses that are twenty hours in contact time, plus assignments in between. If you’re a total beginner, I doubt that you’ll acquire much useful information and skills in half a day. However even that’s better than no exposure to public speaking protocols at all.
Based in Melbourne, Australia Dr Jeannette Kavanagh is a solution-oriented counsellor helping people overcome anxiety and panic attacks, particularly when speaking or performing in public. Sign up for her FREE ezine Public Speaking Success
Vinyl binders have changed markedly over the last several years. Previously limited to just a few colors and ring sizes, they have become a staple of not only business but also academic and home lives. As vinyl binders evolve to meet our changing needs, we find more unique uses for them, ensuring that the vinyl binder will not reach extinction in the foreseeable future.
From the multitude of uses for the vinyl binder come the newer features of the vinyl binder, including personalization of the cover, label holders on the spine, and business card holders in the binder. These features help to ensure that we cannot only keep our treasured materials in the binder, but that we can surpass our own expectations for organization with their use.
In years past, when you wanted to personalize the cover of your vinyl binder, you had to use either masking tape, or a label system to place a small label on the cover, which by the way would fall off when the adhesive wore off. Now, thanks to the magic of new technology, you can not only order your binders with name personalization, but even provide custom artwork as well, such as a logo or emblem relevant to your usage. One of the most exciting uses for personalization is for a company logo or a school logo, so that you can show your business loyalty or school spirit through your vinyl binder.
Once upon a time, we were forced to use an outdated labeling system for the spine of our binders, and with thin vinyl binders, we even had to abbreviate the titles, or make the titles horizontal instead of vertical. Notwithstanding this creativity, we now have a foolproof way to find what is in our binder when they are sitting on a shelf, and that is the label holder on the outside of the binder. Though the spine is also a space that could be used for personalization, a label holder ensures that you will be able to change the contents and the title as many times as necessary.
For those more concerned about the aesthetic quality of the vinyl binder, not only can you now match or color coordinate your binders, but you can also choose the label color and font type to use on the label, ensuring that our love for the organized life will reach a new level of mania. Move over lifestyle divas, the use of vinyl binders to hold everything from recipe cards to annual reports is not new, but being able to color coordinate and match them by size rivals even the likes of the most obsessive compulsive diva.
The business savvy user of the vinyl binder knows full well that a binder is only as good as its marketing potential, and what better way to market yourself than making sure your business card goes wherever you go, or better yet, has to be viewed when someone looks at the binder. Hence, possibly the best feature for a business person is the business card holder. Not only can you use them for meetings and pass out your cards, but if you’re giving a report to someone, you can conveniently tuck your business card into the pocket, and the reader just has to see it!
These three uses help to propagate our organization drive, but also helps to keep our vinyl binder world colorful as well.
This article published by the editorial staff of National Tollfree Directory. For more information about Plastic Comb Binding, Vinyl Binders and CD Binders, visit Advance Loose Leaf Systems at http://www.sellbinders.com. Please direct any feedback on this article to editorial@strbusinessmedia.com.
A lie often feels better than the truth. That is particularly true when you run your own small-business and things aren’t going right. It’s just so much easier to make something up than to admit that you made a mistake.
Big corporations have big names to hide behind. When they lie to the world about their great service and wonderful products, people will still buy from them because they know the brand. It’s almost as if we think to ourselves, “they are too big to let me down”.
Oftentimes, big companies will project the image of being able to handle a lot more than they really can. They don’t really care what you think of them because, most times, you can’t live without them. So you buy their products.
Small businesses have no such luxury. People aren’t going to buy from us because of our size. They buy from us because we offer something unique. Sometimes that’s price, sometimes that’s service, sometimes it’s just knowing that you can speak to somebody in charge when something goes wrong.
Your clients want to know that they can rely on you. It’s the same reason that they buy from big brands. The difference is that you need to give them different reasons to feel that same trust.
Start being honest with your clients. Tell them the full story every time. Let them know what went wrong and then let them know exactly how you’re going to fix it. Don’t get too technical because they won’t understand but be honest with them.
Being honest will leave you with clients that are loyal to you, understanding of your problems and happy to refer you to their family and friends.
Why? Because they trust you!
Large companies will never have that trust. Sure, particular staff members will have those sort of relationships with clients but the business, as a whole, will never be known for it — like yours will!
Being straightforward and honest with your clients will help you build stronger relationships with them. Any salesperson will tell you that a good relationship sounds like money in the (piggy) bank!
Corporate-types often find themselves spending massive amounts of money buying ridiculous corporate gifts, going on silly golf days and buying expensive dinners all in the hope that their clients will like them more.
You don’t have to! Just be honest and genuine and your clients will be eating right out of your hands.
Take the initiative and be proactive in letting your clients know what’s going on.
For example, if you’re experiencing a major boom in business and having difficulty coping with the load — send out an e-mail to each and every client letting them know what’s going on and what you’re doing to fix the problem.
Imagine for a moment that you’ve just commissioned a company to design your web site. They’ve promised to have it up for you by the end of the week and now it’s Saturday.
Which would you prefer?…
To have an honest e-mail or telephone call from the CEO to let you know that one of his employees is sick and he’s finding someone to take over the project, or to be ignored all weekend and only hear from them again when your site is ready?
Most small businesses end up doing the latter. Remember that your clients are just like you and they need to know what’s going on!
I’ve found that this approach has resulted in my company having more happy clients and less unreasonable ones. It’s true — some clients will leave you, but those are the clients that were draining your company’s resources anyway!
The rules are different for small businesses. Start playing by them and you’ll quickly see better results.
Norio De Sousa offers free marketing tips at Marketing-Course.co.za.
A major cost overhead, not only in terms of direct money but also for man-hours lost in the process is staff training. Video courses also called training videos help you offset this cost to a large extent.
Also imagine when a company has a wide spread business interests all around the globe and the man power and audience is culturally diverse, it can become prohibitively expensive to send experienced trainers all over or to pay for each individual to attend training courses. Video training courses can educe these costs dramatically at the same time making content delivery faster to anyone around the globe.
Video courses can be made and presented in many ways they can be a series of specially filmed programmes or they could be films of training seminars that have already occurred which could be edited into video form so as to replicate the benefits of these seminars on a mass scale. Once the filming and editing is over, training videos can be delivered in the form of a CD-ROM for computer based presentations or a VHS and DVD for television presentations. Video courses are often a part of an overall training programme to be planned and delivered according to the needs of the company.
Video courses are often used for induction training programmes for new staff and most people would get to see at least one during their professional life. However they are also used for various other purposes.
Lets assume the company as introduced a new product in the product line, the video training program becomes the ideal and most cost effective way to give out product information, and more importantly so, when the product is highly technical like software. The same process if done manually may take weeks if not months for a multi national corporation with diversely geographical business spanning continents. If we take into consideration the time taken for the manual training program and calculate the costs involved due to loss of man power, the figures would be incredible and preposterous compared to the cost of a video course used for training. Moreover the training retention of the employees is better by video than thru manual means, which renders them more efficient and professional. These two pronged advantages will subsequently bring better results to the company in the future.
Video courses can also be used to train staff about new policies, health or safety issues and any other internal information of the company that needs to be gotten across.
Video training has long been recognized as one of the most valuable teaching medium because it conveys more effectively, the instructor’s clues like gestures, facial expressions and posture that aid effective communication. Decades of valuable research has proved that body language is the single most important element in verbal communication.
Besides the savings in training costs, there are various other reasons to develop procedure videos for your company. The very process of making such a video course may provide invaluable insight into the operations of your company’s business.
Roz is the co-founder of FavCart.com. Visit: http://www.bizintellects.com where you will be able to benefit from business intelligence topics and content.
Loose leaf binders are wonderful for holding all of your paperwork together in one place. They are great for students as well as businesses. Some people even use them as organizational tools to house their household paperwork. You can purchase them in all sizes, so getting the size that you need for a specific purpose is never a problem.
Loose leaf binders also come in a variety of colors. You can color code your paperwork easily, and make it even easier to get your hands on what you are looking for. If you have important papers for your business, as well as your home, you can use one color for home, and another for business. A student could use a different color for each class that required a binder as well.
Vinyl binders are excellent for keeping your paperwork safe and protected. Many of them are sturdy enough to hold up to the roughest treatment. This means that you will not be replacing them every time you turn around. Binders that are made from vinyl are wonderful for students, also. They are easy to personalize, as well as reference what is in the binder from the outside. This makes it easier to find the paperwork that you are looking for when separating home documents from business documents.
Any businessman knows how important a nice professional sales presentation folder is. When you are meeting an important client to discuss business, the sales presentation folder shows just how organized you are. This can leave a lasting impression on the prospective client.
Teachers find that loose leaf binders as well as vinyl binders are great for holding lesson plans, and homework that needs checking. They can also house essays and reports that are in need of grading, keeping them safe and organized until they are able to get to them. Using a binder to separate student records and alphabetizing them according to last name is also a great idea.
Business owners that have many clients find that vinyl binders are excellent for separating projects as well as clients. They are easy to store, and everything that you have in them can be easily accessed. The binders will also hold your sales presentation folders and can help you keep those organized as well.
Loose leaf binders as well as vinyl binders have many uses. They are great for organizing all of your paperwork as well as storing it for easy access at a later time. You will find that the many colors that they are available in make it even easier for you to separate things, and find the documents that you need in only a few seconds. Sales presentation folders make you look like the professional that you are, and help to keep your presentations wrinkle free.
With the pockets that can be inserted in the inside of the folders, you are able to organize your presentation in the most efficient order. This adds to your organizational demeanor.
For more information about Loose Leaf Binders, and Vinyl Binders, visit Advance Loose Leaf Systems at http://www.sellbinders.com.
Preparing for a presentation with the use of visual aids can often overlook the obvious visual, You. That’s right! The speaker. Other forms of visual aids are just that, aids to help interpret your presentation. It is important that you are the main visual. Image is everything!
Focusing on the following areas will prepare you to be the main attraction.
Mental and Physical Preparation
Physical and mental preparation goes hand-in-hand. When you are nervous, your mind is usually racing, causing your words to jumble as they try to keep up with your thoughts. Physically slowing down your mind by relaxing your body helps eliminate this problem. Gather your thoughts through deep breathing and stretching to calm your nervousness. Mental imagery is a tool for a speaker to minimize or eliminate any negative thoughts or fears about speaking. Visualize that you are a dynamic and confident speaker who has valuable information to give.
Proper Attire
What is the first thing your audience will notice about you? Most likely it will be what you are wearing. Pay close attention to how your dress is representing you. Check with the event organizers to be sure that you won’t under or over dress. Do not wear anything that takes away from your presentation such as big jewelry, loud colors, or excessive makeup unless it is part of your presentation.
Body Language
1. Eye communication
The best way to use eye contact is to make eye contact! Do not overlook your audience when you are nervous. Find friendly faces and connect with the audience. This builds confidence in you as the audience senses your sincerity. You can use eye contact to seek feedback from your audience. Are they attentive and interested?
Too little eye contact is interpreted as being impolite and disinterested. Too much makes someone feel uncomfortable and victimized. Try to focus on connecting with your audience and eye contact will become comfortable.
2. Gestures
Gestures should be natural and represent what you are feeling and thinking at that moment. If you are excited, and grand gestures are natural for you, go for it! Your audience appreciates sincerity verses a rehearsed robotic gesture. Although different countries and cultures define gestures differently, there are general gestures which convey a certain message to the audience.
Negative or closed gestures:
- Hands on the hips can be perceived as judgmental and authoritative.
- Hands in pockets show that you are nervous or complacent.
- Hands clasped behind you (reverse fig leaf or regal position) infer that you are hiding something, may cause distrust. This may also show nervousness.
- Hands clasped in front (fig leaf) convey tension.
- Crossed-arms may portray you as defensive and unopened.
Positive or open gestures:
- “At ease stance” (feet about shoulder width apart with toes pointed forward).
- Gestures should be appropriate and flowing, not quickly and jerky.
- Vary your gestures so that you do not bore the audience.
- Palms open show that you are non-threatening.
- Appear natural by matching your words, thoughts, and feelings to your gesture.
3. Posture and Movement
- Proximity and orientation.
- The social norm in North America is about one-and-one-half feet to four feet between two people. Standing too close to someone can cause them to feel uncomfortable and infringed on. Standing too far can cause them to feel disconnected and disinterested.
- Stances/movement - a neutral stance is usually best. Feet slightly shoulder width apart and toes forward. Movement is dependent on your situation. Pacing is distracting however, showing a visual by moving back and forth may be warranted.
- Head nodding can be perceived positively showing your audience that you are interested in them. It can also be perceived negatively if you are shaking your head in a disapproving or demeaning manner.
4. Facial expressions
Be extremely aware of your facial expressions. Do your facial expressions convey a different meaning than what you are thinking or feeling? Or, are they conveying exactly what you are thinking or feeling (i.e. tiredness, boredom)? Always remember to smile at the audience. A good time to do this is when people are first coming into your session. Greet them with a smile. This helps relax you and helps the audience warm up to you before your formal presentation. It is easier to give a presentation in front of a relaxed and inviting crowd rather than a cold and judgmental one.
Remember, you may have the most dynamic presentation slide show with the latest technology, however, all that hard work will be discarded if you do not prepare yourself and the main visual. Make your next presentation a high-impact one with a lasting impression of YOU.
Dr. John E. Neyman, Jr. has been speaking everyweek for the last 21 years. He is writing a book called Designing Speeches. mailto:John@LeadersExcel.com http://LeadersExcel.com
Are you avoiding learning about headlines because you’re not a copywriter? Better not, because no matter whether you make a PowerPoint Presentation, sales call, or write an email, you’re going to need this information. The last thing you need is a headline that will go glug glug and take your marketing strategy down with it.
Ok, now that I’ve got your attention, belt up as we roller coaster our way into the science of how to recognise the power behind the headline. Find out for yourself the precise psychological reasons why headlines entice us so.
How We’re Going to Play the Headline Game
Let me play tour guide. First, I’ll give you three sets of headlines that really work. I’ll identify the trigger in the headline. Then I’ll tell you the psychological reasons WHY they work. Right after that you take over and implement these headlines in your marketing strategy. Comprende? Si? Let’s go.
Psychological Trigger No. 1
Question-Based vs. Statement-Based Headlines
Do you make these mistakes in English?
Do you know where you fail in your marketing strategy?
Is Internet marketing driving you crazy?
Ladies and Gentlemen…Presenting the question-based headline! A headline that beats the living daylights out of a straightforward statement-based headline. When tested, a question like Do you know where you fail in your marketing strategy? gets far more attention than This is where you’re failing in your marketing strategy. Which one would get your attention more: Don’t struggle to pay your bills or Are you struggling to pay your bills?
So why does the brain go wakawaka when faced with a question - based headline? The reason is simple. Questions irritate the brain causing your grey cells to do a neurological dance. The very sight of a question mark forces your brain to want to know more.
Do you have a statement in your headline? You do, huh. Well swap it around for a question and then move to psychological trigger No. 2.
Psychological Trigger No. 2
Problem-Based vs. Solution-Based Headlines
Struggling to get ahead in your small business?
Is your computer’s lack of speed driving you crazy?
Is your marketing strategy missing a vital link?
Now that you know the power of questions, these are double whammy headlines! They not only get your brain whizzing like a wind-up toy, but they also bring to the fore a pain in your brain. If your brain is doing mental aerobics right now, it’s because these headlines are causing you some real grief and you are the precise target audience.
You identify with these problems and are keen to solve them. The brain is fixated with solving problems. It’s a basic survival instinct kicking in. For thousands of years, the brain has been moonlighting.
While its primary function is to make sure the rest of your body parts do what they’re supposed to, its side job is to keep you alive. Therefore it actively goes in search of potential problems you may have, and when it sees one in the headline, it says, “That’s for me!” and goes straight for the problem-based headline.
Yet look at most of the advertising around you. It’s all solution based. You see it, then you don’t. Recycle your solution-based headline into a nice problem-based power pack.
Done it? Ok, let’s go screaming in to psychological trigger No. 3.
Psychological Trigger No. 3
Curious vs. Non-Curious Headlines
Notice the headline for this article? It has the word these in it. These implies there are certain psychological triggers. Now how the heck will you know which ones they are if you don’t start reading this article? Sure you might be the living guru of marketing headlines, but even you can’t be one hundred percent sure.
You’ll take a peek, you think. A small peek. And you do, except it’s a very slippery slide once you get on, my friend.
A skillful communicator knows that he or she must get the curiosity factor to move bag and baggage into your headline. It’s the key to literally sucking in an audience. Then it’s really up to the quality of the content, flow and your ability to keep your audience mesmerised.
Headlines with curiosity work because the brain is intensely curious. Tell a person not to look behind the door, and they want to look. Tell them they cannot have something and they want to know why. Analysis is all part of Mr. Brain’s job.
Every question needs to be answered, otherwise it pounds in your head like a jackhammer with questions that incessantly go Why? Why? Why? (Read the Power of Why) When you create a curiosity factor, you are literally switching on every single light in your customer’s brain.
Headlines with a HOW TO in them are typical curiosity-based headlines. They imply a problem that you might have and need to solve. And to prove my point, look at the next line and see how your eye goes wham, right into it!
How to Construct Headlines Without Making a Complete
Mess of Things
Let me show you how I’d go about it. For instance, I wrote a lot of potential headlines for this article. These were the final four:
1) Psychological Reasons Why These Headlines Work Like Magic
2) Which Precise Psychological Reasons Cause These Headlines To Work Like Magic?
3) Is Your Marketing Strategy Missing These Precise Psychological Triggers?
4) Are Your Headlines Missing These Precise Psychological Triggers?
Let’s Get These Guys on a Couch, Shall We?
1) Psychological Reasons Why These Headlines Work Like Magic
This headline had only one of the features above. It had a curiosity factor. However, it lacked a question and it certainly scored a big zero on the problem factor. Needless to say, it soon backspaced itself into oblivion.
2) Which Precise Psychological Reasons Cause These Headlines To Work Like Magic?
Ooh, this one was pretty powerful. It had the question. It was packed with curiosity, but it kind of fell flat faced on the problem audit. Goodbye, Monsieur Headline.
3) Is Your Marketing Strategy Missing These Precise Psychological Factors?
This one scored on all points. Curiosity, problems and question sat merrily together, expecting me to be as pleased as punch. I was, till I noticed one little discrepancy. It was appealing to the wrong target audience.
This headline would attract people who were interested in marketing strategy not headlines. They would come in, find themselves in the wrong room, drink a glass of wine and sneak out. I needed people to stay for the party. I needed people who were interested in headlines. People like you. Inevitably, I had to refine it just a little bit. And here’s what I came up with.
4) Are Your Headlines Missing These Precise Psychological Triggers?
I personally believe this one was the most powerful of the lot. If it were a guy, I’d let him marry my daughter (if I had one) and give him my blessings. This headline not only encapsulated all the triggers above, but it was precisely positioned. It went for a niche audience and got their full attention.
What’s Abraham Lincoln Got To Do With Headlines?
Abe apparently said, “If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first four sharpening the axe.” Your headline is what you need to spend most of your time sharpening.
You see, people are always in their own world, thinking about their own problems. If you don’t snap them out of their reverie, you don’t have the slightest chance of getting them to buy in to whatever it is you’re selling.
There’s Also Another Dimension to this Sharpening Gig
You can’t be totally satisfied with the headline merely if it fits these three parameters. That is the science, not the art. The art is getting inside the brain of your customers. You’ll find that a slightly different headline will bring in as much as twenty to two thousand times better returns without any change in content.
The only way you can know which one works better is to test headlines. Testing isn’t as hard as you think. Put it in an email and send it to a dozen friends and colleagues. You’ll soon get a pattern and probably some valuable feedback. Take it. It will help you carve a headline that will really get your customer’s attention.
Do You Need All Three Psychological Triggers Working at Once?
No you don’t. A headline can work perfectly well with one or two of the above psychological triggers.
In life, three may be a crowd, but in headlines, it’s the more the merrier. Use the power of headlines in your marketing strategy, your PowerPoint presentations, sales calls, emails, newsletters, and even articles like these.
Better headlines mean better bottom lines. Simple logic, eh?
Have you seen a customer back away at the very last minute? Psychotactics help you overcome that frustration by looking inside the brain of your customer. Go to http://www.psychotactics.com today and find out for yourself.
How do you speak naturally while all those people are watching you?
This document covers hints and tips on public speaking and presentation skill, dealing with public speaking nerves and anxiety, public speaking skills and public speaking techniques, public speaking training.
Common Fears of Public Speaking
What happens when you have to speak in public?
Did you know that public speaking tops the list of phobias for most people? Not spiders or heights - public speaking - speech in public!
Well, if you didn’t know that, we bet your body does. It will do all kinds of unpleasant things to you when you have to stand up and face a sea of faces with the hope of getting your message across in a compelling and interesting way.
Your hands may sweat and your mouth goes dry. Your knees may shake and a quaver affects your voice. Your heart may race and those well known butterflies invade your stomach.
When all that happens most people don’t think of getting their message across in a compelling and interesting way; they just think of getting off the ’stage’ as quickly as possible!
Have we frightened you sufficiently yet?
It’s normal
We don’t really mean to frighten you, just remind you that your body reacts ‘in extremis’ when put under pressure, and for most people, public speaking is just about the worst pressure they can be put under.
It’s normal to be nervous and have a lot of anxiety when speaking in public. In a way, it’s less normal not to have nerves or anxiety; in fact, to feel you have a phobia about public speaking.
Why do we get Public Speaking anxiety?
Fight or flight
Our bodies are geared to fight or flight from ancient time - fight that mastodon or get the hell out of the way. We don’t have too many mastodons around these days, but the body still reacts as though we do. So, if we have to get up and speak in public, all that adrenalin and noradrenalin goes coursing through our bodies - way more than we need.
We can’t run away (well, we could, but we’d be out of job pretty quick if we did it too often), so our only option is to fight. But in terms of speaking in public, it can be hard to define just what we’re fighting.
Why does public speaking do this to us?
Good question. You’d think that for most people, being given the opportunity to impress their audience would be a fantastic one. There you are in front of a group of people, the spotlight is on you and for the length of time you’ve been give, the world is yours.
Or is it?
The very fact that the spotlight is you is enough to trigger every fear, anxiety and phobia you’ve ever had about public speaking.
Here’s why
You may be judged by all those people, and judged badly
You may feel like a fool
You might make mistakes and loose your way
You’ll be completely humiliated
You’ll never be as good as _________ (fill in the blank)
‘They’ won’t like you
‘They’ won’t ‘get’ what you’re trying to say
How to overcome fear of Public Speaking
What good are Nerves
Public speaking may not be comfortable, but take our word for it, nerves are good. Being ‘centre stage’ is not a good place to feel too comfortable.
Nerves will keep you awake and ensure you don’t get too complacent. Hard to feel complacent when your heart is beating so hard you’re sure everyone watching you can hear it.
If channelled well, nerves can make the difference between giving a humdrum presentation and giving one that keeps people listening.
Get your attention off yourself
It’s very tempting to keep focused on how you’re feeling, especially if you’re feeling really uncomfortable. You’ll start to notice every bead of sweat.
To make your nerves work for you, you need to focus on just about anything other than yourself. You can distract yourself by paying attention to the environment in which you’re speaking and seeing how you can make it work for you.
Once you’re actually in front of your audience, pay attention to them. If you can, notice how people are dressed, who’s wearing glasses, who has on bright colours. There will be dozens and dozens of things you can pay attention to help you trick your mind into not noticing what’s going on with you.
Anything will do and you will find that the less you concentrate on how you are feeling and the more you concentrate on other things, the more confident you will feel.
How to build confidence in Public Speaking
Your audience can be your friend
Unless you know you’re absolutely facing a hostile group of people, human nature is such that your audience wants you succeed. They’re on your side!
Therefore, rather than assuming they don’t like you, give them the benefit of the doubt that they do.
They aren’t an anonymous sea of faces, but real people. So to help you gain more confidence when speaking in public, think of ways to engage your audience. Remember, even if they aren’t speaking, you can still have a two-way conversation.
When you make an important point pay attention to the people who are nodding in agreement and the ones who are frowning in disagreement. As long as you are creating a reaction in your audience you are in charge.
Keep them awake
The one thing you don’t want is for them to fall asleep! But make no mistake public speaking arenas are designed to do just that: dim lights, cushy chairs, not having to open their mouths - a perfect invitation to catch up on those zzzzs.
Ways to keep them away include
Ask rhetorical questions
Maintain eye contact for a second or two with as many people as possible
Be provocative
Be challenging
Change the pace of your delivery
Change the volume of your voice
Public Speaking Training
Get a coach
Whatever the presentation public speaking is tough, so get help.
Since there are about a zillion companies out there all ready to offer you public speaking training and courses, here are some things to look for when deciding the training that’s right for you.
Focus on positives not negatives
Any training you do to become more effective at public speaking should always focus on the positive aspects of what you already do well.
Nothing can undermine confidence more than telling someone what they aren’t doing well.
You already do lots of things well good public speaking training should develop those instead of telling you what you shouldn’t do.
Turn your back on too many rules
If you find a public speaking course that looks as though it’s going to give you lots of dos and don’ts, walk away! Your brain is going to be so full of whatever it is you’re going to be talking about that to try to cram it full of a whole bunch of rules will just be counterproductive.
As far as we’re concerned, aside from physical violence or inappropriately taking off your clothes, there are no hard and fast rules about public speaking.
You are an individual not a clone
Most importantly, good public speaking training should treat you as a unique individual, with your own quirks and idiosyncrasies. You aren’t like anybody else and your training course should help you bring out your individuality, not try to turn you into someone you’re not.
Hints and Tips for Effective Public Speaking
Here are just a few hints, public speaking tips and techniques to help you develop your skills and become far more effective as a public speaker.
Mistakes
Mistakes are all right.
Recovering from mistakes makes you appear more human.
Good recovery puts your audience at ease - they identify with you more.
Humour
Tell jokes if you’re good at telling jokes.
If you aren’t good, best to leave the jokes behind.
There’s nothing worse than a punch line that has no punch.
Gentle humour is good in place of jokes.
Self-deprecation is good, but try not to lay it on too thick.
Tell stories
Stories make you a real person not just a deliverer of information.
Use personal experiences to bring your material to life.
No matter how dry your material is, you can always find a way to humanise it.
How to use the public speaking environment
Try not to get stuck in one place.
Use all the space that’s available to you.
Move around.
One way to do this is to leave your notes in one place and move to another.
If your space is confined (say a meeting room or even presenting at a table) use stronger body language to convey your message.
Technology
Speak to your audience not your slides.
Your slides are there to support you not the other way around.
Ideally, slides should be graphics and not words (people read faster than they hear and will be impatient for you to get to the next point).
If all the technology on offer fails, it’s still you they’ve come to hear.
You can learn to enjoy public speaking and become far more effective at standing in front of a group of people and delivering a potent message.
When it comes to improving your public speaking skills we have three words:
practise, practise, practise!
Jo Ellen and Robin run Impact Factory and have trained thousands of people in the art of Public Speaking for events from Wedding Speeches through to Key Note Conference Speeches.